The proliferating gig economy relies on online freelance marketplaces, which support relatively anonymous interactions by text-based messages. Informational asymmetries thus arise that can lead to exchange uncertainties between buyers and freelancers. Conventional marketing thought recommends reducing such uncertainty. General insights into buyer–seller communication in two-sided online freelance marketplaces.

1. From: Ludwig, Herhausen, Grewal, Bove, Benoit, de Ruyter, and Urwin (2021)
Communication in the Gig
Economy:
Buying and Selling in Online
Freelance Marketplaces
Both, buyers, and freelancers, can achieve greater success in
the online gig economy by managing communication
uncertainty.

2. From: Ludwig, Herhausen, Grewal, Bove, Benoit, de Ruyter, and Urwin (2021)
Online Freelance Marketplace Exchanges
• Online freelance marketplaces feature reverse auctions that rely
on a three-stage process:
Call for Bids Bidding Selection
A buyer describes a
gig in a call for bid
seeking a suitable
freelancer
Freelancers formulate
& submit bids that
describe themselves,
the service, & the
price
The buyer compares
the bids and selects a
freelancer to perform
the gig

3. From: Ludwig, Herhausen, Grewal, Bove, Benoit, de Ruyter, and Urwin (2021)
The General Communication Problem:
Communication, Uncertainty Reduction and Coping
Communication
& information Uncertainty
inextricably linked*
1 Central tenet: Uncertainty is inherent to any interaction. It depends on the
interactants’ ability to draw inferences from both the information content
and the manner in which it is provided.

4. From: Ludwig, Herhausen, Grewal, Bove, Benoit, de Ruyter, and Urwin (2021)
The General Communication Problem:
Communication, Uncertainty Reduction and Coping
2 Dealing with uncertainty
Reduction
Coping
Conversational partners generally prefer to
reduce uncertainty and providing more
information, presented in an unambiguous
and concrete manner, typically facilitates
exchange.
Yet, people experience uncertainty
differently and do not always prefer to
reduce. Thus, strategic communication
choices that might not minimize
uncertainty, and even cultivate it, can also
facilitate exchange.

5. From: Ludwig, Herhausen, Grewal, Bove, Benoit, de Ruyter, and Urwin (2021)
Communication Principles in Online
Freelance Marketplaces
• Three cooperative communication principles impact buyer-freelance
interactions:
• Truthfulness: In the freelance context, neither a buyer nor a freelancer can know
upfront whether the other party might be lying, so truthfulness would have to be
assumed prior to the exchange.
1 the quantity of information should be as much as is required,
and no more than is required
2 the information should be relevant
3
the manner of how what is said is to be said (be clear
and avoid ambiguity)

6. From: Ludwig, Herhausen, Grewal, Bove, Benoit, de Ruyter, and Urwin (2021)
Communication Elements that Impact
Uncertainty
Task
information
Personal
information
Concreteness Intensity
The number of
Functional terms
related to the task
The number of Self-
disclosing terms
related to the person
The number of terms
that are precise,
perceptible & specific
The number of
Affective terms

7. From: Ludwig, Herhausen, Grewal, Bove, Benoit, de Ruyter, and Urwin (2021)
From:
7
Bad practice excerpt Good practice excerpt Lift in bid applications
Specify
tasks and
skills
“I need a website to showcase the full range
of my fitness workouts.”
“I need a website designer who can design a
WordPress website using a WordPress
premium theme.”
From 18% to 29% task terms,
resulting in 5% more bids
Avoid
personal
information
“I have been creating my own classes for
almost 10 years now ... clients tend to
especially love my classes on strength and
flexibility. Now I need help setting up my
website.”
“I am a Fitness Trainer and need help with
building my website to showcase my mixed
services and home workouts.”
From 9% to 4% personal terms,
resulting in 4% more bids
Be
moderately
concrete
“I require a professional who is savvy in
configuring a stylish website employing a
premium theme.”
“You should have got very good creative skills
but know how to design for web and also
know how to include calls to actions within a
good design.”
From 21% to 26% concrete
terms, resulting in 1% more bids
Avoid being
intense
“I have created a fantastic theme but you
should be confident and eager about
WordPress and help optimize.”
“The theme and examples will be provided,
but you should also know about WordPress
and optimize.”
From 11% to 4% affective terms,
resulting in 4% more bids
Formulating call for bids to attract freelancers

8. From: Ludwig, Herhausen, Grewal, Bove, Benoit, de Ruyter, and Urwin (2021)
From:
8
Formulating successful bids
Bad practice excerpt Good practice excerpt Lift in bid success
Mimic buyer’s
supply of task
info
“Dear Sir, would love to work for you…” “Hi Gary, I am happy to help you with your
fitness website development and design…”
From 16% to 25% task terms,
resulting in 7% higher bid
success and 8% higher price
premium
Exceed buyer’s
supply of
personal info
“I am an enthusiastic designer and
expert in Web development…”
“I am a WordPress Freelancer with 15 years
of work experience…”
From 6% to 8% personal terms,
resulting in 3% higher bid
success and 4% higher price
premium
Exceed buyers
who are not
concrete
“I have great skills and plenty of fantastic
experience in creating relevant
websites...”
“I have worked on several similar projects,
designing websites using a WordPress
including premium themes and I can deliver
to a tight schedule...”
From 24% to 30% concrete
terms, resulting in 7% higher bid
success (but no effect on price
premium)
Mimic the buyer’s
intensity
“The content will be creative and fun,
attractive, and thoughtful…”
“Website content that I produce will be
creative and include original designs...”
From 18% to 6% affective terms
resulting in 11% higher bid
success and 7% higher price
premium